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Friday, 5 February 2016

All 10 soldiers
missing in an avalanche that hit an Army post, located at an altitude of 19,600
feet at the Siachen Glacier, have died.

"Demise of
soldiers in Siachen is very tragic. I salute the brave soldiers who gave their
lives to the nation. Condolences to their families," Prime Minister
Narendra said, confirming the fears about their fate.

“It is with deepest of regrets
that we have to state that the chances of finding any survivors are now very
remote,” Northern Command spokesp-erson Col SD Goswami said.

With the temperatures in the
glaciated area ranging between minus 25 degrees during the day and minus 42
degrees in the night, the rescue teams were braving adverse weather conditions
and rarefied atmosphere to locate the survivors, he said.

A ‘wall of ice’ buried the post,
a stone bunker bang on the actual ground position line (AGPL), a 109 km-long
divide between India and Pakistan, on Wednesday.

Expressing concern
over the “spreading tide of extremism and terrorism”, Vice-President Mohammad
Hamid Ansari on Thursday said such threats required strong cooperation among
like-minded nations. He said the need for maintaining safety of sea lanes,
which was critical for maritime trade and commerce, maritime security and
access to marine resources, continued to assume greater significance as
countries in the ASEAN region strived for greater economic integration.

Expanding on the
issue, which came for special mention in his speech on “India, Thailand and
ASEAN: Contours of a Rejuvenated Relationship” delivered to academics at
Chulalongkorn University here, Ansari said, “Non-traditional threats such as
piracy, smuggling, trans-national crimes and drug trafficking are on the rise
and pose a challenge for our countries and require strong and determined
coordinated action.” There was a need, he added, to protect all trade routes
and sea lanes of communication from both traditional and non-traditional
threats and “all countries using these international waters must act with
responsibility and restraint”.

Ansari, who is
himself a former diplomat, had a word of advice on tension in the South China
Sea. “The evolving situation in the South China Sea demands restraint from all
parties. We support collective efforts by ASEAN member states and China to
conclude the code of conduct to keep peace and stability in the region,” he
said.

Emphasising on the
importance of India’s relations with ASEAN, Ansari announced a slew of measures
India was taking to deepen relations with this region. These include enhancing
the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund from the current $1
million to $5 million in near future, setting up of an ASEAN-India innovation
platform to facilitate commercialisation of low-cost technologies,
collaborative research and development projects, implementation of a
$21.53-million project on establishment of a tracking and data reception station
and data processing facility for ASEAN at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam,
upgrading the station at Biak (Indonesia) and training ASEAN personnel in space
science and technology at Dehradun.

Stating that
connectivity with ASEAN in all its dimensions (physical, institutional and
people-to-people) continued to be a strategic priority for India, Ansari said
special efforts were being made to develop a coherent strategy, particularly
for linking ASEAN and North-East India. This means that in some years Indians and
residents of ASEAN nations would be able to drive all the way to Vietnam
through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in the east and Singapore via
Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia in the south east. Negotiations on the
India-Myanmar-Thailand Motor Vehicles Agreement and the ASEAN-India Maritime
Transport Cooperation Agreement have already been finalised, while the
ASEAN-India Civil Aviation Task Force is expected to oversee optimisation of
air connectivity.

Ansari said despite
rapid growth of the Indian and Thai economies, bilateral trade and investment
remained modest.

At the Siachen
Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, hostile weather, icy terrain,
sub-zero temperature, low oxygen and high-altitude sickness form a lethal mix,
taking a heavy toll on men in olive green than any conflict with India’s
arch-rival — Pakistan.

Pakistan has the
same story of losing more men to the weather vagaries than skirmishes between
the two countries.

As per statistics,
869 soldiers have lost their lives since April 1984 when India initiated
“Operation Meghdoot”, airdropping its men to pre-empt a move by Pakistan to
occupy the strategic heights.

With 10 more Army
men falling to an avalanche, the death toll has now gone up to 879 since 1984.

The Army and the Air
Force have been running against time to trace and rescue survivors, if any,
among the 10 soldiers who went missing after an avalanche wiped out an Army
camp at a height of 19,600 feet on Wednesday morning.

On Siachen’s
significance to India and what makes it a dangerous place, Northern Command’s
defence spokesperson Col SD Goswami said: “Siachen’s terrain, its strategic
location and geographical importance have given it a paramount place in the
annals of history. The soldiers deployed on the glacier endure the worst
weather conditions throughout the year.

“At times, the troops have to
unavoidably take up defences in the areas around steep slopes and crevices,
which might send tonnes of snow and rubble crumbling down without any warning
and completely obliterate the camps, communication lines, bury personnel and
everything else. In such unstable conditions on the glacier, the terrain,
climate or altitude can take its toll on anything.”

However, Colonel Goswami added
that with rhythm in his steps, faith to serve the nation and prayers on his
lips, a soldier goes on his way up to the glacier.

An Army source said that since
1984, the Army had lost 869 of its men at the 76-km Siachen Glacier. A majority
of them have died of hostile weather conditions such as avalanches, landslides
and floods and in some cases due to the high-altitude sickness, he added.

Indian and Pakistan have been
pitted against each other at the Siachen since 1984.

“Loss of appetite, frostbite and
high-altitude pulmonary edema (watery fluid collecting in the cavities or
tissues of the body) are some of the diseases to which our men are exposed.
There were instances in the past when some of our men contracted Monge’s disease
that causes loss of high-altitude tolerance after prolonged exposure,
characterised by extreme polycythemia (abnormally increased concentration of
haemoglobin in the blood), exaggerated hypoxaemia (abnormally low level of
oxygen in the blood) and reduced mental and physical capacity, relieved by
descent,” he said.

A defence official said both
India and Pakistan had lost more men to hostile weather than conflicts between
the two sides on the glacial heights.

“Since 2003, guns have been
silent on the 110-km Actual Ground Position Line after India and Pakistan inked
a ceasefire in November that year,” he added.

However, a senior Army officer
said the past conflicts with Pakistan and China, growing proximity between
China and Pakistan via the Karakoram Pass and trust deficit with Pakistan, made
strategic Siachen Glacier indispensable to India and it could not afford to
withdraw its troops

On an average, India spends Rs 5
crore a day for replenishing supplies to its men at the Siachen.

India controls about two-thirds
of the glacier, besides commanding two of the three passes while Pakistan
occupies the Gyong La Pass, which overlooks the Shyok and the Nubra river
valleys and India’s access to the glacier from Leh district in Ladakh.

Indian soldiers currently hold
the strategic Saltoro Ridge which overlooks Pakistani positions.

At 5,472 meters above sea level,
the Siachen Glacier is located in the Karakoram mountain range, which has some
of the highest peaks in the world. The northern mountains of the glacier mark
the watershed between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Bereft of
vegetation, the glacier is one of the world’s most inhospitable regions, where
the temperature plunges to - 40°C.